ROME — The Vatican said more than 33 million pilgrims traveled to Rome during the 2025 Jubilee year as the final faithful crossed the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, capping a yearlong Catholic celebration that doubled as a stress test for the Eternal City and a defining early chapter for Pope Leo XIV.
Pope Leo is due to close the basilica’s ornate bronze doors in a ceremony, just over 12 months after they were opened by his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died in April. The rite formally concludes a Jubilee marked by packed liturgies, surging crowds and a steady stream of visitors seeking the spiritual benefits of a Holy Year.
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“The entire world came to Rome. Pilgrims arrived from 185 countries” for 35 major events, including a festival for young Catholics and the canonization of the first millennial saint, Archbishop Rino Fisichella told reporters, adding that participation showed the centuries-old institution remains “a dynamic church.”
Despite sheets of rain, thousands continued to file through the Holy Door on the final day, many briefly stopping to pray or make the sign of the cross. By tradition, passing through the door — normally bricked up between Jubilees — allows the faithful to receive a plenary indulgence, a form of complete remission of temporal punishment for sin. The last pilgrim was scheduled to pass at 5:30 p.m. in Rome.
Attendance skewed heavily toward European Catholics, who accounted for about 60% of pilgrims, with 16% coming from North America, according to the Vatican. Officials said arrivals jumped after the May election of Leo, the Church’s first U.S. pope.
Rome also used the Jubilee to spruce up infrastructure and landmarks, including the Trevi Fountain, amid warnings the city’s overburdened transit and growing overtourism could buckle under the pressure. Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said the opposite happened. The Italian capital “rose admirably to the occasion” during a “boom year” for visitors, he told journalists, calling the Jubilee’s “main legacy” a renewed “confidence in the possibility of improving and transforming the city,” after “a very long period of stagnation or even decline.”
In addition to St. Peter’s, Holy Doors were opened at Rome’s three other major basilicas, extending the Jubilee’s spiritual itinerary across the city. The end of the Holy Year now doubles as an institutional pivot. Since his election, the Chicago-born pope has largely shepherded initiatives already set in motion by Francis — publishing documents his predecessor readied and fulfilling commitments such as a visit to Lebanon and Turkey — while the rhythms of the Jubilee dominated his first months in office.
Analysts expect the close of the Holy Year to free Pope Leo to more clearly define his agenda. “This period has been a ‘middle world’ in which the old and new pontificates overlapped,” said Andrea Gagliarducci, a Vatican expert with the Catholic News Agency. “The conclusion of the Jubilee” will allow Leo to “finally assert his leadership beyond the legacy of Pope Francis.”
By tradition, a Jubilee is convened every 25 years as a time of reflection and penance for the world’s more than 1.4 billion Catholics. This one, bookended by the opening and closing of the Holy Door, brought a global church to a single city. The numbers suggest the faithful answered the call — and that Rome, however imperfectly, rose to meet them.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
